Introduction
We are familiar with the term "evolution"; at least, it is not entirely new in this era, except to the uninitiated. In this particular survey, we would be looking at the evolution of humans in sympathy to technology; of which "cybernetics" is a major destination in human evolution (which some could refer to as the "destination of human evolution into transhumanism")
[Image Source: Pixabay]
Concept of Technovolution
We may have been aware of the concept of evolution, but I would like to point out that the fore-ancestors of modern men experienced majorly a natural trend of evolution (this was before the advent of technology). And according to Charles Darwin, this course was charted by natural selection, of which "Survival of the best fitted" played a major role.
But like you may have been aware of, this era has been greeted by astronomical growth in the field of technology, and these technological waves have been seen to affect almost all ramifications of our human existence; including evolution.
In the light of the above, you would not be totally wrong to infer that "natural selection" has almost given way to "technological selection". That is why the term "technovolution" could be seen to suffice more than the aforementioned "evolution".
This is because, as the years pass by, the natural process of evolution keeps getting mutilated by some external forces or factors; of which "technology" is a major proponent.
Also, there is no disproving to the fact that these changes caused by technological advancement has also led our brains to adapt to this technovolution; which has also created a new link between the neurons in our brain. This induced adaptation is called Brain plasticity (or Neuroplasticity).
The notion of Neuroplasticity
Neuroplasticity; in a layman's term; is the change or alteration that takes place in the brain of an individual, which alters the person's life's course. And as you may have been aware of, the human brain adapts easily, which gives it the propensity to be influenced by external forces (technology in this context).
To buttress the above point, it is worthy to note that; within these last decades, humans have relied heavily on computational devices and even memory devices, and this has laid less emphasis on the need for the human brain to process and retain large volume of information. And the effect of this has been that the human memory has not been seen to improve evolutionally in relation to other aspects of evolution.
[Image Source: Wikimedia Commons. Author: Johanna Pung. Published in: Wikimedia Deutschland]
Relating Technovolution to Neuroplasticity
According to the theory of gradualism, the concept of evolution is seen as a slow and continuos process which could spread through millennia. No doubt, to a considerably large extent, this theory holds; but the advent of technology has been seen to speed up the process of evolution (or rather; technovolution).
Here are two witty statements by a very renowned futurist and also a proponent of singularity; Ray Kurzweil:
Technology is actually the next stage in human evolution.- Ray Kurzweil. Source [paraphrased by me]
And this
Technology speeds up the evolution process... Singularity is near. - Ray Kurzweil. Source [Paraphrased by me]
Putting this together, you would realize why the process of evolution has been seen to speed up within the last decades.
[Image Source: Wikimedia Commons. Compilation Author: Ray Kurzweil]
If you have observed closely, you would have noticed that there are remarkable changes that have been witnessed by the human species in this tech era. For instance; humans have been seen to pick up the ability of "selective hearing", which has enabled us to filter off unwanted noise and focus more on the sounds that interest us or are important to us (all thanks to our neuroplastic abilities). This ability of selective hearing is actually needed to compensate for the fact that the world is becoming louder and more noisy with the advent of technology.
But there is a very vital aspect of technovolution I would like to point out. Though technology has been seen as very ubiquitous in this era, it is still not even at the apex of evolution yet. There are still potentials encapsulated in emerging technology.
For example; it has been said that smartphones could be replaced by cybernetics. This could sound so inferential, but with the advances in Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) which could lead to human brain telepathy, what would be the need to communicate with a smartphone, when the information could be sent directly from brain to brain without any intervening medium? This is just a little hint to what technovolution would lead humans to.
But you already know; or maybe I should remind you that; technovolution occurs exponentially. This is what I mean: As sophisticated technologies are being developed, it affects the rate of human evolution, which also leads to more sophisticated technologies being designed; and the process continues in that trend.
So you see, there could be no limit to what humans can technovolve into.
Conclusion
Human technovolution as we have seen is an evolutionary trend that has been affected and mutilated by advancements in complex and sophisticated technologies. This technovolution has leveraged on the neuroplastic abilities of the human brain.
But I would leave us with this question:
Would technology be the final destination of the evolution of humankind?
Your answer is as justifiable as mine
Thanks for reading
References for further reading: Ref1, Ref2, Ref3, Ref4, Ref5
All Images are CC licensed and are linked to their sources
